196 P. 519 | Mont. | 1921
delivered the opinion of the court.
Action brought by appellant praying for. injunction restraining respondents from carrying out, or attempting to carry out,
Section 4 of the Act provides: “The board of county commissioners
While it may be conceded, as has heretofore been held by this court, that there may be a classification of property for taxation purposes, and that there may be a discrimination in favor of one class as against another (Hilger v. Moore, 56 Mont. 146, 182 Pac. 477), yet this case does not involve a mere classification, but, in effect, an exemption from taxation of all personal property.
We are not unmindful of the fact that in a former decision of this court it was held that the levy of a tax exclusively upon agricultural lands for the purpose of construction of a terminal
Section 1, Article XII, of the Constitution, provides that the legislature “shall prescribe such regulations as shall secure a just valuation for taxation of all property. Section 16, Article XII, of the Constitution, provides that all property shall be assessed in the manner prescribed by law. Section 17, Article XII, Constitution, provides that: “The word property as used in this Article is hereby declared to include moneys, credits, bonds, stocks, franchises and all matters and things (real, personal and mixed) capable of private ownership, but this shall not be construed so as to authorize the taxation of the stocks of any company or corporation when the property of such company or corporation represented by such stocks is within the state and has been taxed.” Section 2, Article XII, provides what property may be exempt from taxation, in the following language: “The property of the United States, the state,
Beading the Constitution as a whole, it appears that it was the intent of the framers of the Constitution that all property as described by section 17 should be taxed for public purposes, except such as is specifically exempted by section 2. Section 9, Article XII, Constitution, was expressly amended in 1910, whereby a special levy could be made upon livestock exclusively, for certain purposes, and without the amendment such levy could not be made. Any tax levied exclusively upon one class of property, necessarily in its effect works an exemption of all other classes, and is therefore void except in the case of special taxation of livestock as above mentioned.
The rule herein set forth is supported by the case of Daly Bank & Trust Co. v. Board of Commissioners, 33 Mont. 101, 81 Pac. 950. The Daly Bank & Trust Company was a banking corporation organized under the laws of this state, and it was provided by statute that the property of such a corporation should be assessed for taxes in the same manner as the property of national banks, and in no other way. National banks were assessed only upon real estate and not upon personal property. This court, in disposing of the case, held that such statute was in contravention of section 1, Article XII, of the Constitution, providing that the legislature “shall prescribe such regulations as shall assure a just valuation for taxation of all property.” The conclusion was reached upon the theory hereinbefore set forth, that taxation of real estate alone necessarily involves exemption of personal property, and therefore the tax is not levied upon all property as required by the provisions above mentioned.
The judgment is reversed with directions to the trial court to issue the injunction. Appellant is awarded his costs, except expense of printing the transcript, which printing in this case was not required by the rule of this court.
Reversed with directions.